RNY Gastric Bypass Surgery, Pureed Food Stage

I started the puree stage of my diet a few days ago and my  little blender wasn't doing the trick, so I bought this mini chopper at the Walmart.  It was only $24.00 Canadian dollars and I LOVE it!  It has been indispensable for chopping/pureeing meats, eggs, and just about anything else I've tried.

New Chopper

Salton Mug Warmer

I also purchased the Salton Mug Warmer for only $12.99 at Canadian Tire.  I have to sip everything, and it takes ages to eat or drink anything.  The microwave is fine for drinks, but my foods were drying out, and this will work perfectly to keep my meals warm for the hour or more it takes me to eat now.

Various sauces, etc.

 Pureed foods have to be very moist, so I bought a lot of sauces, dressings, etc., to add to my food.  All are no or low sugar, and low calorie.  The no sugar added jams by Live Smart are great.  I add one tbsp to my unsweetened greek yogurt and they make it yummy; a perfect breakfast.

I also bought several tiny containers, that hold about 4 ounces.  That's about the size of my meals,so they're perfect.

Food Chopper

The chopper is a great little tool and takes up hardly any counter space.  The no stick pad on the bottom doubles as a lid, so food can be stored right in the container but I'm allowed such small portions that I usually just spoon it out into my tiny containers, keep one out to eat, label and freeze the rest.

Pureed egg salad

 One of my favorite breakfast or lunch meals is pureed egg salad. Just boil 2 eggs (for two servings), peel, toss in the chopper, add 1 tbsp low fat or fat free miracle whip, 1 tbsp Greek yogurt, a very small dash of salt, pepper, and smoked paprika, and chop on high until it turns into a creamy (and yummy) puree.  When done, I divide it into 2 portions;1 to eat immediately,  lol, and one to save for the next day.  My new pouch (which is what my tiny stomach is called) loves this and it goes down easily.

Pureed egg salad and espresso cup of V8 juice

Items with my hand to show scale

 When you see my hand in the photo, you can see what tiny portions I am eating.  It takes me about an hour to eat the egg salad, and about half an hour or more to drink the juice.  I am full after.

Chili, ready to be pureed

My Dad made chili a few days ago, and was kind enough to make me a small batch without any hot sauce.  The amount you see in the pot above made 6 servings! I ate 2 and froze the rest.  It was very good; I added Greek yogurt and salsa to my serving cups.

On Sunday my Mom made Ribs, and they smelled wonderful.  She left two baby ribs free of sauce for me, and I cut off all of the fat and chopped the meat.  I made my own BBQ sauce using 2 tbsp low sugar ketchup, 2 tbsp Splenda Brown Sugar, 2 tbsp salsa, and 1 tsp of mustard, for kick .  There was enough for two servings and it was my absolute favorite meal so far.

BBQ Ribs

BBQ Ribs

BBQ ribs

They were soooo moist and tasty! 

Today was the first day that I was able to get almost all of my protein in (I need a minimum of 60 grams and was able to get in 55 grams), without resorting to a protein shake

For breakfast I had greek yogurt with 1 tbsp of no sugar added strawberry jam. 
For lunch I had a container of BBQ ribs (to die for).
For supper I had pureed cheeseburger with all the fixings.  One small home made patti, made from lean ground beef, was enough for two servings. I added low sugar ketchup, mustard, relish, low fat miracle whip, and salsa, and pureed it  Then I heated it in the microwave so I could melt a low fat cheese slice over it. Yum.  Sorry, no photo; I was too hungry to look for my camera.

So that is what I am eating on the puree stage.  I've also tried refried beans with yogurt, and cottage cheese.  Both good. I will be on the puree stage until March 2nd, and then can progress to the soft food stage.

13 Days until RNY Gastric Bypass (Weight Loss Surgery)

Hi Guys!

Sorry I have been AWOL; I had to fly to Toronto a week and a half ago for a Pre-Op appointment with my surgeon and his team.

I originally was going to drive but we have a LOT of snow:

So I wimped out and booked a (super crazy expensive) last minute flight to Toronto.

I left on Sunday Jan. 8th; my Dad drove me to the airport, lucky me, as I hate driving when it's snowing and blowing. I flew home on Thursday Jan. 12th, and was lucky enough to be able to stay with family and friends while in the Toronto area.  I stayed with my ex sister in law and friend, Leslie, her Mom, and my gorgeous nieces and nephew.

Dad at the airport

Clary doing her homework

Lexi and Clare

Lexi, Clare, Chris, Leslie, and Sandy

Max

Chris and Max

It was so nice to spend time with everyone again; it had been almost 5 years since I saw them last.

My first night there, they ordered yummy exotic food that I've never tried.  Shwarma and other things.  It was quite good.  My favorites were the fries with some sort of cheese and dip, and the wrap.  We watched a movie on Netflix and just took it easy while we caught up with one another.

They go to bed early; the teens are in bed by 10 and the adults go to bed at 11 so that was a surprise, and difficult for me to adjust to as I'm normally up until about 3 AM, lol.  I ended up taking an ativan to help me sleep, and just when I had fallen asleep, the fire alarm went on.  And on, and on.  We had to walk down 5 flights of stairs to the lobby, where a fireman instructed us to go down another hall, which was crazy as that hall was smokey and I have asthma.  We ended up sitting in the van with the heat blaring for about an hour or more before we were allowed back in.  Some jerk had tossed a lit cigarette down the garbage shute!

There was a blizzard on the day of my pre-op meeting, Jan. 10th.  I couldn't believe it!  First a fire, then a blizzard, lol.  Luckily, it was a Toronto blizzard, which looked like a typical Sault Ste. Marie snow fall.  We didn't have to go on the highways, thank God, and the drive to the hospital was short, only 10 or 15 minutes.  It was snowing and blowing a bit but not too bad.  

My pre-op meeting went well and my surgeon, Dr. David Lindsay, could be on the cast of Grey's Anatomy; he's THAT good looking.  So much so, that after I met with him, the nurse asked what I thought, and I told her he seemed very nice, and competent.  She said, "And handsome?"  I cracked up laughing and told her they have their very own Dr. McDreamy. She said "everyone says that!".  LOL.

The whole team was very nice and very kind, and the anesthesiologist was another cast member from Grey's Anatomy; very handsome.   At the end of all of my appointments I was given 3 weeks worth of Optifast 900, a high protein diet.  I had to take them out of their boxes and they barely fit in my suitcase:

Optifast, my diet for 3 weeks!

I'll do a separate post about Optifast, but suffice to say, today is Day 9 and I'm doing great!  I'm down some weight too.

My Dad picked me up again after my flight came in and I was astonished to see we've had even more snow.  Regardless, it was good to be home.

Back yard.

Street facing West.

Street facing East.